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22/04/2013

BBC Radio 4 - And Calm of Mind

Former soldiers turn to Shakespeare to fight stress and take Henry V to the London stage.

4 Extra Debut. Chris Ledgard follows The Combat Veteran Players, where ex-soldiers use Shakespeare to tackle post-traumatic stress. From 2013.

Ex-soldiers turn to Shakespeare to tackle the symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Chris Ledgard follows The Combat Veteran Players as they take Henry V from a community hall to a West End theatre. Support comes from the stage combat experts at the Royal Shakespeare Company - they come in to teach the soldiers how to act to be soldiers. 

Members of the cast tell us their personal stories and one explains why, after a young adulthood spent abroad and in the army, "civvy street" is his new battleground. 

Only a few of the group have acted before, and we hear them coached in the rhythms of Shakespearean verse. And we're backstage as they prepare to go on in front of a paying audience. "I'd rather take a patrol around Belfast" says the man playing the French herald, Montjoy.

Producer: Chris Ledgard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2013.

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